Its no secret.
2012 was a hard year for me.
You heard me complain..a lot.
I felt justified in my whining. I no longer hike (much). I miss my red rock more than Pepsi. I miss my hiking friends, my parents, the grands and Sunday dinners. I miss warm sun and blue skies and cactus and palm trees. I miss the sand between my toes. I miss our hot tub. I know I've said all this before..but this is a review..and these things havent changed.
2012 was definitely about change; about nothing staying the same.

The Best Things About 2012

Beckham and Benjamin joining the family
Brian returning home from his 2 year mission in California.
Jenna Dot Loveday joining the family.
Mission calls to many young people I know and love.
Downton Abbey
Gardening...tomatoes, squash, tomatoes, chard, tomatoes! Yum!
Learning that 2 more grands are due in 2013!

But enough is enough. 2013 is going to be a year of no complaining
...of less complaining...
of hardly any complaining...(until the furnace went out!!)

Its going to be a clean start for me.
My Builder deserves better. He's put up with the long face for long enough.
I've determined that this indeed is going to be our year...for good changes.
I am grateful to all my friends and family who have put up with my whining for more than 356 days. I have needed your empathy. I am thankful.

This is the year for dear new friends to add to the dear old friend list.
This is the year for a clean start.
This is the year for new responsibilities and stewardship.
These new challenges will bring new blessings..and miracles...This time I feel sure of it.
There are many a book to be read.
There are new things to be learned, like deciphering a bus schedule...and reading music.
Creating a home from a lack-luster apartment is a good challenge too.
There's much to write about....
and creativity to be nourished.
And negativity to kick to the curb.
And grands to be spoiled.
There is much to do!!

I like living.I have sometimes been wildly,despairingly, acutely miserable,racked with sorrow,but through it all I still know quite certainlythat just to be alive is a grand thing.~Agatha Christie~

For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.~James Baldwin~

CINHIKERS DELIGHTFUL FAMILY

Mom and Dad/Joe and Pauline/Grandma and Grandpa/ Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

My other Mom and Dad/Bob and Ethel/Grandma and Grandpa/ Great Grandpa and Great Grandma

Rob, Chelsea, Lachlan, Olive, Knox, Jax

Joe, Natalie, Logan, Liam, Beckham and Evelyn

Anna and David Sherwood,Lucie and Benjamin

Clark

Brian and Mericar

The greatest adventureis what lies ahead.Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.The chances, the changesare all yours to make.The mold of your lifeis in your hands to break.

— J.R.R. Tolkien(The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again

Adventure is a path. Real adventure -self-determined,

self-motivated, often risky-forces you to have firsthand

encounters with the world. The world is the way it is,

not the way you imagine it.

-Mark Jenkins

GRANDPARENTING HEAVEN!!

Beckham

Evelyn

Every child is an artist.The problem is how to remainan artist once he grows up.~Pablo Picasso~

Liam

Only as high as I reach can I growOnly as far as I seek can I goOnly as deep as I look can I seeOnly as much as I dream can I be~Karen Ravn~

Logan

All our dreams can come true,if we have the courage to pursue them.~Walt Disney~

Olive

"Far away in the sunshine are myhighest aspirations.I may not reach them, but I can look upand see their beauty, believe in them,and try to follow where they lead"~Louisa May Alcott~